This past Tuesday Christine Vachon and I did a Twitter Q&A. For one hour we answered whatever questions the community put forth. We tracked them under the unifying hastag: #KHQA (which also happened to be a radio station's call letters, but...). These sort of Twitter meet ups are not only a lot of fun but a great way to connect and share info. I think it should become standard operating procedure for any filmmaker who premieres a film or is about to. They can also then be repurposed into a blog post so it keeps generating new content!

@KVPI (Christine Vachon)
-- @Rebeckakaka ha-- both! you can't REALLY learn the biz till you are in it, film school is a fake place for a producer-

@JCle1 (Just J)
-- @TedHope @kvpi Do you think there are themes/ideas you care about personally that come through ea of your projects? If so, what?

@TedHope (Ted Hope)
-- @JCle1 Mostly I like stories that have emotional truth and take me somewhere I cant get on my own
-- @JCle1 I love stories that make me care about someone I don't think I hv much in common w

@kingisafink (King and Keck)
-- @kvpi Thanks so much for answering my question! Do producers watch other ppl's work, approach writers based on produced work?

@KVPI (Christine Vachon)
-- @passerbyco @TedHope I have taken so so many-- taking some as we speak! 1st time directors, unknown actors- DPs/PDs on their first gigs..

@TedHope (Ted Hope)
-- @passerbyco Biggest risks? Each movie is a testament of faith in artist & humankind in general
-- @kvpi @passerbyco Even taking on rent and employees is a risk in this time of economic collapse!
-- @passerbyco Each film is a five year minimum commitment (often MUCH longer) & world could end b4
-- @passerbyco But I have claimed several times I could do things I did not know how to do in order to get the opportunity

It is no longer the dawn. We are now officially in the new era of a Truly Free Film Culture.
Yes, the business of indie film is back. The rapidity, volume, and consistency of dealsblossoming ($30M and counting!) at Sundance should give investors more confidence that you no longer have to rely just on foreign; the US acquisition climate seems quite robust again. Whew. But the good news does not end there.

Indie Film has been infected by a new breed that -- like those that came before them -- refuses to ask for permission. But unlike the earlier wave, their go-get-them attitude doesn't stop at production, it extends into all the pillars of cinema -- from discovery and participation on through production, distro, appreciation, and presentation. The content, the form, the plans of cinema are not only for re-examination, but the rules have been thrown out. Time to get out of the way, and let the fresh air disrupt the stale space.

It is so happening in every which way. Yes, there are new stars, but also new ways of working. This Sundance there are plenty examples of "tribal filmmaking" (thanks to Brit Marling for that phrase) -- teams of collaborators, working together, and moving beyond single authorship. The web world calls this "collabs", but the spirit of this can be found in Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Sound Of My Voice, The Woods, and Another Earth. We will find more teams taking over in the days ahead -- and it is an incredibly refreshing antidote to the antiquated construct of pure "auteur" cinema.

New spirit is there in old bodies too. Kevin Smith's self-distribution plan recognizes the realities of the day. No one in indie film has used social media as well as Kevin Smith has. He understands clearly the need to eventize his picture, and he has done it well. Things started off with a bang at Sundance, and he plans to keep it going. He gave a nice lecture on his past and his plan for the future. In between the curses, he lays it out how he plans to go forward. His roadshow approach of teaming the local premieres with his live act is a value-add propisition that his million plus fan community hopefully can not resist.

Smith's RED STATE plan has the core indie value at it's heart. To me previously I only really saws this value in terms of content & production, but now has extended well beyond this. Indie refuses to ask others for permission. Smith makes movies his way -- as he learned what happens when he doesn't. He gets his fans the way his fans get him. It is not a one way street, but a true community. He might be divisive, but he is a model to follow. Perhaps, precisely because he is divisive!

The failure of corporate filmmaking to represent the world we live in, particularly compared to indie's success at that, is evident at fest like Sundance. It is also painfully drummed home by the Oscar noms, when all the Best Actress candidates hail from indie projects. As long as corporate filmmaking fails to offer realistic takes on women's lives, Indie Film will always thrive as a welcome alternative. Sundance must be acknowledged too as a tremendous generator of quality content; Sundance's responsibility in delivering 15 Oscar nominees is nothing short of mind-blowing. If the world was just, the Oscar would be renamed the Bob.

I left Sundance boosted and relieved. As great as it was to license our film to a top distributor for a significant profit, it is more the spirit launch that I seriously needed -- and that came from the individuals I got to meet with and hang out with. We are at time of change -- but as someone pointed out to me, what is so great about the now we are in, is that the new breed recognizes change as a constant. They will not take this moment for granted. They accept the fluidity of all. They recognize how the whole world must turn for that one leaf to fall. And they are okay with it.

I've had the pleasure of working with Lance Weiler for maybe two years now. I love how he thinks. I love how he takes that thought and transforms it into action. Process is more key to what he does, than virtually anyone else I have worked with. The journey is the destination. He is willing to walk without knowing where it all might be going. He is collaborative to the Nth the degree. His vision for cinema truly knows no limits.

Wired Magazine singled him out this summer as one of the fathers of transmedia. BusinessWeek credited him with changing cinema alongside Thomas Edison, The Warner Bros., and James Cameron. Between his features, The Workbook Project, & DIY Days, the man is profoundly generative.

If you were in Sundance this past week (and even if you weren't), you probably witnessed how he infected Park City with a Pandemic. Others certainly did. Jamie Stuart shot this beautiful video for Filmmaker Magazine on Lance's Pandemic activities. FearNet has acquired his short which was screening at the fest. For those that like to hold their stories in their hand, you can follow it on Twitter here. AND of course there is a website. Granted, I am producing the feature, but believe me when I tell you it is thrilling, horrifying, beautiful, and groundbreaking; it's a shame you have to wait until I raise the money to see it.

Christine Vachon and I also got to speak to Lance for KillerHope on Hulu.

Lance created this short as a style template for collaborators throughout the world to help capture the outbreak in their local territories. Check it out and get filming!

I had one film to share with folks this time around, Sean Durkin's MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, which I had the pleasure and good fortune to Executive Produce -- even still I did not plan to see any others. I knew I was going to be too busy with the work that festivals have become for me.

The reception for the filmwasgreat -- which has generated a lot of meetings (and which has yielded some niceannouncements ). I forgot to read the latest Exec Prod job description though and did not realize it now means moderating press conferences. Check out the video here, and let me know how you feel I did.

When I wasn't dealing and celebrating Sean's movie, I was doing my part to aid in the promotion of indie film.

Christine Vachon and I have been doing this talk show on and off now for several years, now dubbed KILLER / HOPE. Hulu's got it up on their Sundance page. Please check it out while you still can (at least in all its glory). New episodes will be added daily throughout the festival. Additionally, we were invited to talk to Eugene Hernandez for the local NPR station. Gotta get the word out, but man does all that yapping, make for some seriously dry mouth.

But man, what a test of will power it is. I admit I am an addict for great film, and even noble failures. To be in Park City and to have booked myself into back to back meetings to extent that I am unable to watch movies, leaves me quaking and shaking. I want to see some movies!

SF Film Society Blog

Thrilled to announce that #MirandaJuly will be bringing #NewSociety, her latest performance project, to #SFIFF audiences April 28 & 29. Hilarious and moving, this experiment in theatrical collaboration chronicles the ways societies emerge, transform, decay and persist over time. Like July's other projects, New Society blurs boundaries between fiction and reality, and audience and performer. So excited to present this event in collaboration with #SFMOMA; tickets on sale NOW to our members & theirs at sffs.org. Photo by #PamelaGentile. #SFFSmembers

These gams graced the #SFIFF stage some four springs ago, and they'll be strolling their way back into this year's Festival lineup. We will make our first program announcement TOMORROW! Find out who owns these lovely blue tights and be at the ready to purchase tickets to this awesome Live & Onstage event. #SFFSmembers: you get first crack at snagging a seat. Not yet a member? Consider joining the Film Society. Trust us, no one belongs here more than you.

#TBT: San Francisco International Film Festival founder Irving Levin just before the second-ever #SFIFF (1958). This spring, we are proud to attach his name to the Festival prize that has honored him for so many years. Our Founder's Directing Award — presented in recent years to legendary filmmakers such as #RichardLinklater, #SpikeLee & #FrancisFordCoppola — will going forward be known as the Irving M. Levin Directing Award in memory of this passionate and driven Bay Area film exhibitor.

Last week, we announced the finalists for our #DocumentaryFilmFund, a competitive cash grant that supports post-production work on nonfiction films. We selected 11 outstanding projects after combing through more than 300 apps — read about these films on @indiewire at bit.ly/DFFfinalists2015. In the meantime, a #TBT to one of last year's grantees, #TomorrowWeDisappear. The doc follows a magician, puppeteer and an acrobat — all members of a small artist colony tucked away in New Delhi — as the neighborhood they inhabit begins to attract real estate developers and eviction looms on the horizon. Read more about past winners and the various ways that #SFFSsupports doc & #indiefilm at sffs.org.

#TBT: #SpikeLee & #DannyGlover at #SFIFF 29, for the world premiere of Lee's film She's Gotta Have It. Over the years, we've screened a variety of Lee's work, from his graduate school thesis film We Cut Heads to to his 2006 doc about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem In Four Acts. We also honored Lee at SFIFF 50 with the Festival's prestigious Founder's Directing Award. Love this filmmaker? His latest, #DaSweetBloodOfJesus, opens at the #RoxieTheater tomorrow!

#SFIFF 58 is just down the road! This year's Festival will run from April 23-May 7, and we will release our full program roster on March 31. In the meantime, stay tuned: a few select special events will be announced in advance. #SFFSmembers get first crack at purchasing tickets to all Festival programs. Not a member? Join now and beat the #SFIFF rush. Photo: #TheAmazingCatfish by Claudia Sainte-Luce (SFIFF 57).

Animator #TommMoore engaged in a live drawing demonstration at a local elementary school. Moore screened his #AcademyAward-nominated film #SongOfTheSea for nearly 300 Bay Area students through the SFFS Education program just a few weeks ago. Learn more about his visit with us and about our time with legendary Disney animator #GlenKeane on the Film Society Blog at blog.sffs.org.

Get YR hair did and head over to the #AsianArtMuseum this Thursday night! Their latest exhibition Seduction: Japan's Floating World kicks off with an awesome opening night party DJed by Proof (AKA @markyenriquez) and peppered with installations & performances by artist & sexuality educator @planetmidori. #SFFSmembers: want to join in the fun for free? Email community@sffs.org by 5p tonight with your name & member number for your chance to win a pair of tickets. Subject should read 'Courtesans & Cooks' & body should include reason why you want to go! Image: Courtesan promenading under cherry blossoms by Katsushika Hokuun, John C. Weber Collection. #TheFloatingWorld

Filmmakers: this is your final weekend to apply to the SFFS / KRF Filmmaking Grant! Get your materials together & submit by Feb. 17. This award funds narrative feature films in all stages of production. In addition to cash prizes, grantees receive one-on-one project consultation, fundraising assistance and access to the full suite of filmmaker services at #SFFS. You need not be local to apply! Pictured: #MosquitaYMari, a film about the evolving friendship between two Chicana high schoolers in Los Angeles, 2011 grant recipient. #SFFSsupports #indiefilm

Very saddened about the passing of journalist #DavidCarr. An amazing writer & forward thinker. Honored to have screened #PageOne: A Year Inside the #NewYorkTimes at #SFIFF 54, #AndrewRossi's in-depth portrait of the paper as it began transitioning into the digital era. Carr became the unexpected star of this film, and came to life on screen as a champion of the Times and an early adopter of new media. His voice will be missed by NYT readers & film lovers everywhere.

In anticipation of this Friday's release of Boyhood with the filmmaker returning to SF for a round of Q&As, watch the onstage interview with Richard Linklater and Parker Posey and Boyhood Q&A from An Evening with Richard Linklater at the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival!

The San Francisco Film Society wrapped its 57th San Francisco International Film Festival (April 24–May 8) with 263 screenings of 168 films from 56 countries, which were attended by over 300 filmmakers and industry guests from over 20 countries. Over 15 days, SFIFF57 showed 74 narrative features, 29 documentary features and a total of 65 short films. See all the highlights and photo galleries!

Last night, the 57th San Francisco International Film Festival announced the winners of the juried Golden Gate Award and New Directors Prize competitionsat an event held at Rouge | Nick’s Crispy Tacos. This year the Festival awarded nearly $40,000 in prizes to emerging and established filmmakers from 13 countries around the globe!